Soon
after her introduction, Laffing Sal proved to
be a very popular success, and Old King Cole worked
feverishly to keep up with the orders coming in
from Philadelphia Toboggan. In a relatively short
period of time, Sals were shipped to amusement
parks all over the nation and beyond.

PTC
then decided that the market might be ripe for
other similar animated figures and commissioned
OKC to produce Laffing Sam. This was followed
by the Laffing Farmer, Blackie the Sideshow Barker,
as well as Laffing Luke and Giggling Gertie, which
were figures seated on wooden crates. However,
none of these characters acheived Sal's level
of popularity, and the timespan of their production
was brief.
(Photos: Philadelphia Toboggan Co.)

Catalog
photos of Laffing Sal, Laffing Sam, Laffing Farmer,
Blackie the Barker and Laffing Luke and Giggling Gertie.
A farmer stood outside the dark ride at Olympic Park,
Maplewood, NJ and Giggling Gertie presided for many
years at the Magic Carpet funhouse at Coney Island,
NY.

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Old
King Cole continued furnishing Laffing Sals for Philadelphia
Toboggan's funhouse division until the beginning of World
War Two, at which time all amusement equipment production
ceased. There is some indication that PTC intended to
resume production after the end of the war, but instead
sold off its funhouse division to Edward Schmid Sr. who
then established the Funni-Frite company in Lancaster,
Ohio, which operated until 2000. Schmid marketed most
of the funhouse equipment previously available from PTC,
but it appears that the OKC connection was severed and
Laffing Sal went into retirement.

Above,
during their last few years in business, Funni-Frite revived a
version of Laffing Sal. The head and hands were made of a latex
compound poured into plaster molds cast from an original Sal which
had previously operated since the 1940's in a PTC funhouse at
the former Buckeye Lake Park in Ohio.

Rising
insurance premiums and relentless litigation have caused the great
traditional amusement park funhouse to be viewed as a risky, inefficient
use of revenue-generating space. These great halls of mystery
and mirth have all but vanished from the scene, and we are the
poorer for that.
Laffing Sal is now part of a parade
that has passed us by, her laughter a distant echo of a simpler
era of American life. As a child, I saw her as an object of fun
and fascination; for many others, her grotesque features were
the stuff of nightmares. And yet, for me, Sal's gap-toothed grin
and good-natured giggle can still open the window, if only for
a moment, to a past fondly recalled; to the sunshine of my youth.
In my heart, she will laugh forever.